Kneepad and method of making same



June 5, 1945. H GREENE 2,377,339

KNEE PAD AND METHOD OF MAKING SAME Filed June 28, 1941 INVENTOR /R///V6672501/5 B Y ATTORNEYS Patented. June 5, 1945 UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE KNEEPAD AND METHOD OF MAKING SAME Irving H. Greene, New York, N.Y.

4 Claims.

The invention relates to a knee pad or protective'guard constituted of asheet of sponge rubber of substantial thickness adapted to fit theknee'and which will stay in place once it has been secured upon theknee. The article is adapted to be worn either over or under clothes andis so constructed as to make extremely simple its application to theknee to protect the same when the wearer i in kneeling position, forinstance in gardening, housework, or any industrial occupationnecessitating kneeling with the knees ordinarily in contact with hard,rough ground or floor.

Knee pads or guards of this general character have been heretoforeconstituted of a sheet of sponge rubber of comparative thickness,usually oblong in shape, which was applied to the knee of the wearerover work clothes by merely bending the same around the knee, and thensecured by a strap or elastic string. Such knee pads or guards wereunsatisfactory in that slippage thereof occurred, especially as thewearer moved about and since the pads themselves did not conform to theshape of the knees, they were also uncomfortable to the wearer.

In accordance with my invention, I provid a knee pad or protective guardwhich is constituted of a sheet of sponge rubber of substantialthickness which, however, in the course of its fabrication into a kneepad,'is conformed or shaped to the general configuration of the kneewith reinforcing strips of vulcanized rubber, and which has appliedthereto a means of securement of the pad or guard to the knee whichfixes it in position in such manner that slippage does not occur andwhich, nevertheless, is both comfortable to the wearer and may be easilyapplied and removed from the knee.

In accordance with my invention, I provide a blank or sheet of spongerubber of substantially rectangular configuration of sufficient area orsize to constitute, when fabricated in accordance with my novel method,into a knee pad, a pair of such knee pads or guards. or sheet of spongerubber, of substantial thickness, is die-cut'along its transverse medianline, at the same time removing by the die-cutting operation, two.substantially diamond-shaped pieces from the area immediately adjacentsuch transverse median line, so that the blank or sheet of sponge rubberfrom which the two knee pads'are to'be formed, is a rectangular stripwith two substantially diamond-shaped cut-outs in its center. For bestresults, the die with which the cutting is accomplished is of suchconfiguration Application June 28, 1941, Serial No. 400,169

Such blank that the edges of the diamond-shaped cut-outs are slightlyconvex, as will be apparent more particularly from the drawinghereinafter to be described.

In accordance with my invention, the blank thus die-cut is separatedinto two parts, from each of which is to be formed a separate knee pador guard, by shaping each piece on a suitable mold or supporting blockin such a manner that the edges of the cut-outs in each pad are broughttogether and secured by a suitable cementitious composition, whereby theblank is shaped into substantially cup-form, conforming to the generalconfiguration of the knee of the human body. In addition to thecementitious composition, thus adhesively holding together the edges ofthe cut-outs, there is superposed upon the outer surface of the knee padthus produced, a substantially V-shaped patch of rubber which may or maynot be vulcanized, which constitutes an additional reinforcing means formaintaining the pad in cupped shape. On the surface of the pad which isto receive the most wearing contact, there is provided, in accordancewith my invention, an additional strip or sheet of rubber which, at thesame time, maintains in position an elastic strap extending over thesurface of the knee pad and by means of which the pad may be secured tothe knee.

A particular embodiment of my invention is illustrated in theaccompanying drawing, in which Fig. 1 is a plan view of a blank or sheetof sponge rubber from which a pair of knee pads in accordance with myinvention are to be fabricated; Fig. 2 is a plan view of the interiorface of a knee pad shaped and molded in accordance with my inventionfrom one of the two pieces of the blank of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a plan viewof the exterior face of such pad;

Fig. 4 is a top plan view of the complete pad;

Fig. 5 is an end view of the complete pad;

Fig. 6 is a vertical section through the pad; and Fig. '7 illustratesthe knee pad or protective guard as applied to the knee of a wearer.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, in which similar referencecharacters identify similar parts in the several views, [0 is a blank orheet of sponge rubber of substantial thickness,

for instance, of an inch, and approximately 7 /2 inches in width and 13inches in length, which has been die-cut along its transverse medianline H with a die which at the same time is eifective to remove twosubstantially diamondshaped portions from the blank or sheet leaving twocut-outs l2 and I3. The edges of such cutcuts 12 and i! are preferably,but not necessupporting block and the edges of the cut-out and the twoedges comprising the median line II are brought together and secured bya suitable cement. At the same time, there is superposed upon the curvedportion of the knee pad thus being produced, a V-shaped patch II, whichmay be of ordinary rubber or vulcanized rubber, such as is used inpatching an automobile tire tube. The two arms of theN-shaped patchoverlie substantially the lines of juncture of the curved edges ll ofthe cut-outs.

Across the body of the knee pad, immediately adjacent the cupped portionthereof, is laid an elastic strap it which may be permanently secured tothe face of the pad by cement and also by a substantially rectangularshaped strip of rubber I! which can extend throughout the entire surfaceof the pad which is to receive most wear and tear during its use. At oneend of the elastic strap i6 is provided a male snap fastener ll, whileon the other portin of the elastic strap is provided the cooperatingfemale snap fastener element is which is adjustable in its positionalong the strap.

The knee pad or protective guard thus produced, comprises a pad of asingle sheet of sponge rubber having an arcuate section extending fromthe medial portion of the body flanked by a pair of lateral extensionswhich are curved both laterally and longitudinally of such medialportion of the body. The edges of such arcuate section and pair oflateral extensions, are secured together, and the sheet of sponge rubberis thus shaped to cup formsubstantially of the configuration of the kneeto which the pad is to be applied.

The knee pad or guard thus constituted may be readily applied to theknee with the cupped portion thereof directly over the knee and theflatter portion thereof extending along the leg below the knee, with theentire structure secured in position by means of the elastic strapextending beneath the knee and around the leg of the wearer.

While I have described a specific embodiment of my invention, utilizinga blank or sheet of to its ultimate form, snugly fitting the knee to 1which it is to be applied. The pad, once iixed in position upon the kneeof the wearer, will not slip and will give the ultimate comfort andprotection, while easily applied and removed.

I claim:

1. The method of making a pair of knee pads or protective guards from asingle substantially rectangular sheet of sponge rubber, which comprisessimultaneously severing the sheet along its transverse median line anddie-cutting a pair of substantially diamond shaped cut-outssymmetrically to said line, drawing and cementing together the end edgesof each resultant sheet formed by such severing and die-cuttingoperation, whereby a substantial cup shape is imparted to each suchresultant sheet, conforming in configuration to the knee of a humanbody,

and applying a substantially V-shaped covering patch .of vulcanizedrubber to each resultant sheet thus conformed in overlying relation tothe meeting end edges.

2. A knee pad or protective guard comprising a generally rectangularsheet of sponge rubber of substantial thickness, said sheet having anintermediate and opposed side projections at one edge thereof, theintermediate projection having opposed convex egdes merging into thefree end of the projection, the side projections each having a convexedge opposed to one of the convex edges of the intermediate projectionand merging into same at the bases of the projections and the sideprojections terminating in relatively short straight edges, the convexedges of the projections being secured together and the terminalstraight edges of the side projections being secured together outwardlyof and in line with the end of the intermediate projection, with aresulting cup shape in the sheet for accommodating the knee of a wearer.

3. A knee pad or protective guard according to claim 2 together with asubstantially V-shaped covering pad overlying the secured convex edges,and a reinforcing pad overlying the main body portion of the sheet.

4. The method of making a knee pad or protective guard which comprisesproviding a pair of notches defined by opposed convex edges in one edgeof a substantially rectangular sheet of sponge rubber, the notches beingdisposed inwardly of opposed sides of the sheet and defining oppositeside projections having relatively short straight terminal edges and acentral projection terminating in a point centrally of said opposedsides, and drawing and connecting said convex and straight edgestogether with the side projections enclosing the central projection andthe terminal edges thereof extending outwardly from the point of saidcentral projection whereby providing a cup-shaped portion in the sheetfor receiving the knee of a wearer.,

IRVING. H. GREENE.

